After six long weeks of grueling testimony, evidence and arguments, a jury in the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard defamation case made their verdict hugely in favor of Johnny Depp (with one count in favor of Heard’s counterclaim). In a time when mainstream media should have taken the opportunity to put an end to the catastrophic claims that Ms Heard has been putting out there against Johnny, they instead have chosen to highlight the injustice to “all women” that this verdict has inflicted.

While mainstream media puts out headlines like “The Depp-Heard verdict is a gag order for women” - Washington Post, “Depp-Heard Verdict is Chilling” - The New Yorker, and “The Amber Heard Verdict was a Travesty” - The New York Times, social media is also being cast as the culprit to the “failed verdict”. Amber Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft quickly jumped to a press tour the morning after the verdict to make claims such as “(social media)…it was like the roman colosseum”. I’ve read articles demonizing social media “journalists” for creating content from this trial and claiming that “no one actually watched the trial, they all just watched social media”.

As someone that put everything else on hold for the last six weeks to watch intently, review the evidence, listen to the audio tapes, and take diligent notes on testimony, it’s insulting. We saw what happened inside that courtroom. We watched and heard Amber lie on the stand, shift in her seat as she stared down the jury, change stories along the way, and cry fake tears. We watched with the jury and there was no question as to whether her stories were believable or not.

Oops, I Gossiped Again...

Social Media & the Depp-Heard Trial

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